This tutorial is going to walk you through what to put in your advent calendar, and almost every piece of the Story is going to be things you already have around your house.

This would also be a great craft to do with a group (MOPs, craft night, family gathering, etc.)!

The best part is that this is a hands-on learning experience to help kids remember the different parts of the Story... You'll teach your kids the true Story of Christmas without spending much, if any, money.

Be creative when finding the items to represent each part of the Story... these are just my ideas but yours may be better. Here's a closeup (click on photo for even bigger closeup):

Each day you'll open a box and read the Bible verses related to the Story. Bible verses or references can be in the box with the item or kept separate. Explain how the item in the box relates to that Bible passage to give kids a hands-on understanding of what the Story is all about. If you also go over the previous days' verses each day, on December 25th, you'll read the entire story all the way through.

I chose to go through the Christmas Story mostly in order from Matthew 1-2 and Luke 2, with a few relevant Old Testament prophecies interspersed. Feel free to rearrange the pieces of the Story to your liking (another way to do this is to find the baby Jesus on the 25th instead of the gift boxes). All verses here are from the New International Version. I added [brackets] to give better context with names.

1. Angel wings (Angel Gabriel) Luke 1:26-28, 31
“In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, ‘Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you… You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.’”

2. Two gold rings (Engagement)Matthew 1:18
“This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.”

3. Sheet music or music notes
(Mary’s Song)Luke 1:46-55
“And Mary said:
‘My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever,
even as he said to our fathers.’”

4. White satin or organza or Guardian Angel pin (Angel) Matthew 1:20
“…an angel of the Lord appeared to [Joseph] in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.’”

5. Cross
(Salvation through Jesus’ sacrifice)Matthew 1:21
“‘[Mary] will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’”

6. Bridge or string
(Jesus bridged the gap between Heaven/God and earth/humanity)Matthew 1:22-23
“All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’—which means, ‘God with us.’”Isaiah 7:14
“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”

7. Star of David, house or chain (House and line/chain of David, Jesus’ genealogy)Luke 2:4
“So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to house and line of David.”

8. Donkey or horse
(Journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem) Luke 2:5
“[Joseph] went [to Bethlehem] to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.”

9. Lion or purple cloth
(Lion represents house of Judah, Purple indicates royalty) Micah 5:2
“‘But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
from ancient times.’”

10. Baby
(Baby Jesus) Luke 2:6-7
“While they were [in Bethlehem], the time came for the baby to be born, and [Mary] gave birth to her firstborn, a son…”

11. Piece of soft cloth
(Swaddling blanket)Luke 2:7
“…[Mary] wrapped [Jesus] in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”

12. Peace sign
(Jesus is Prince of Peace)Isaiah 9:6
“For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

13. Wool or shepherd’s staff
(Sheep and shepherds)Luke 2:8-11
“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.’”

14. Pieces of straw, hay or dead grass
(Manger) Luke 2:12
“‘This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’”

15. Many gold “halos”
(Multitude of angels)Luke 2:13-14
“Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
‘Glory to God in the highest;
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.’”

16. Bells
(Spreading the word and carrying the message to others)Luke 2:15-18
“When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.”

17. Dirt or rocks
(Kneeling on the ground – our right response to Jesus as God)Psalm 95:6
“Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;
for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.”

18. Heart
(The emotions of Mary as Jesus' earthly mother) Luke 2:19-20, 33-35
“But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.”
… “The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about [Jesus]. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: ‘This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.’”

19. The name Jesus
(The name Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua, which means “the Lord saves”)Luke 2:21
“On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had been conceived.”

20. Two doves or feathers
(Sacrifice of doves by Joseph and Mary, Holy Spirit like a dove at his baptism later in life)Luke 2:22-24
“When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took [Jesus] to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, ‘Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord’), and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: ‘a pair of doves or two young pigeons.’”Luke 3:21-22
“When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: ‘You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.’”

21. Googly eyes or Mr. Potato Head eyes
(Revelation of Jesus as Christ the Savior to Simeon and to all people) Luke 2:25-32
“Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
‘Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you now dismiss your servant in peace.
For my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in sight of all people,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel.’”

22. Small book or scroll
(The wisdom and knowledge of the Magi) Matthew 2:1
“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem.”

23. Crown, rhinestones, jewels, throne or purple cloth
(Jesus is King of Kings) Matthew 2:1-2
“… Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, ‘Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.’”

24. Star (Star that the Magi followed) Matthew 2:9-10
“After [the Magi] had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.”

25. Three gift boxes
(Gifts from the Magi to Jesus) Matthew 2:11
“On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.”

And that is the True Story of Christmas, the one that we need to teach our children.

Hope you enjoyed this project as much as I did putting it together. May God be glorified this Christmas and every day!

93 comments:

This is simply fabulous! Thanks a ton. Though I have already purchased a Lego star wars one but I'll definitely make this. The kids would get to learn what Christmas is all about and this is absolutely necessary at this hour. Thanks again.

I absolutely love this! I've been putting pieces of our playmobile set in my advent calendar but I like this better. Have you seen resurrection eggs? it's like this but for easter and they are awesome I'd love you to link this to my party at http://raegunwear.blogspot.com/2011/11/what-i-wore-wednesdays-1.html

I should've written in the original post... I got the advent calendar itself from Hobby Lobby. I think it was $14 but you can use the 40% off coupon online to save some money. They don't sell it online so hopefully you have a store near you.

This is awesome! I didn't grow up w/ an Advent Calendar but have loved what I've seen in blog land so I have decided to have one for my son. So in my brainstorming I realized I don't want his Christmas to be about gifts big or small so I decided that with each piece of candy I wanted a biblical verse or piece of the story for each day....this is going to help me so much Thank You! Visiting from Creative Blogger Party Hop....Also your new follower!

Thank you so much for sharing this! As a mother to two young toddlers I truly appreciate and relish in any truth I can teach them on the true meaning of Christams and the amazing, wonderful gift we were given through the birth of our Savior. Thank you and Merry "early" Chrismtas to you and yours!

Hobby Lobby!? The one place I didn't look for that type of Advent Calendar! I looked everywhere, finally found one amazon... but it is taking forever to get here! Might go buy one at Hobby Lobby tomorrow and just use the one I ordered for something else!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!! I have been looking for something just like this for years! I never could get the right combination of verses and symbols to make it just right. I think I already have almost all of the items - just in time to make this before Dec. 1! Thanks so much for sharing!

What an AMAZING idea. Love how you incorporated all of the little trinkets/gifts into the story. Thank you so much for your inspiration. I love your blog. I'm your newest follower. Would love to see you DIY Home Sweet home.Jamiehttp://diyhshp.blogspot.com/

P.S. I have a linky every Monday. Would love for you to stop by and link up.

Thank you so much for the hard work that went into breaking the verses apart into each day. I've been trying to put one together, but couldn't quite figure out how to order the verses properly. My baby isn't quite old enough for the little treasures yet, but I will be making an advent with just the verses to read before bed...and for me to center myself in these hectic times as well. I'm a new follower, and I also just started my own blog. I'll be posting about my advent with a link back in a few days, hope you can check it out. http://www.onedogwoof.blogspot.com

The calendar was in the Christmas crafts section of Hobby Lobby. I bought it several months ago when they first put their Christmas stuff out and it was with the kid-type crafts. FYI, it comes blank (all brown) and you have to put your own numbers on it. I have a post to write for tomorrow to give more info on the numbers! Hope that helps!

I wanted to do an advent with library card holders, so I've used your tutorial to create a printable PDF of each day's Bible passage displayed on cards, with a small picture depicting the items you have in the boxes. Hopefully, you don't mind, and can take a look at http://onedogwoof.blogspot.com/2011/12/christmas-advent-calendar-with-bible.html

I was just wondering where at in Hobby Lobby did you find this box. My mother-in-law made these for my girls last year and I wanted to get one to make for my nephew but couldn't find the box ANYWHERE. (I was acutally looking just today) I looked down every isle but found nothing and nobody could help find them, so...if you get a minute! Thanks wicks.n.wax@sbcglobal.net

This is completely wonderful!! Newest follower here. Would love it if you would stop by and share this at my linky party going on right now :) http://everything-underthemoon.blogspot.com/2011/12/bedazzle-me-monday-11.html

I am pinning this and bookmarking! This is so amazingly perfect! I love the REAL meaning of Christmas! Would you please share this with my readers for Fun Stuff Fridays linky party? http://www.toysinthedryer.com/2011/12/fun-stuff-fridays-3.html

Thank you for your creativity and the work and effort you put into this project! I am soooo excited to attempt to put this together for my family this Christmas...the only regret that I have...that I didn't find this sooner...would have made one for my sisters and in-laws who still have a 12 year old at home. That's ok though as I will just plan ahead and make them up for next Christmas! Any way to teach about Jesus Christ through out the year is VERY MUCH needed in this day and age where our world revolves around "people" instead of our Lord and Saviour who gave His all for us! Thank you for helping us add another tradition to our family!

Thank you for your creativity and the work and effort you put into this project! I am soooo excited to attempt to put this together for my family this Christmas...the only regret that I have...that I didn't find this sooner...would have made one for my sisters and in-laws who still have a 12 year old at home. That's ok though as I will just plan ahead and make them up for next Christmas! Any way to teach about Jesus Christ through out the year is VERY MUCH needed in this day and age where our world revolves around "people" instead of our Lord and Saviour who gave His all for us! Thank you for helping us add another tradition to our family!

I just started putting this together, after reading your post and becoming inspired. I happen to have a tiny, tiny nativity set (had it for years, never used it, though)that fits into the pockets of our Santa Advent wall hanging! So, many of my days are a bit different than yours, (for example, the last 3 days are the kings; a shepherd, instead of a shepherd's crook, etc.). Having the verses broken up and ready to use was a wonderful blessing! Just wanted to thank you for sharing this idea and all your hard work!

Another "thank you". We incorporated your symbols and verses into tiny gift bags hung from twine. We are going to also allow our kids to munch on candies as we read the verses. I hosted a "mom's only" cookie exchange last night and many moms wanted to know about the Advent calendar, so I "pinned" it and emailed the a link to your blog. This is awesome!

Great idea! This year we are using clip art pictures for most of the items, I am having back surgery soon and can't get out and about to find the things we don't have. Thank you. I wanted to do something a bit different this year, since the oldest is getting a little hung up on the present thing.

This is AMAZING! I have a very similar advent calendar (from Making Memories, found at Target several years ago) and I've decorated up the outside and was just thinking about what to put in the little boxes. I don't have time/money for candy or treats right now and wasn't sure I wanted to commit to an activity every day (who knows what time/$$/weather or whatever will allow on particular days?). This, though, just means digging through the craft stash. I like!

Thank you sooo much for taking the time to share this amazing post!! I have used the same advent little matchbox and story and this will be fun to change up to and still keep the true meaning in tact!! just what I needed to find today!! I repinned it too!! Thank you again, Lori {Vintage Charm Restored}

Thanks for this post. I adapted it a little bit and made a printable. I linked back here to your blog. I hope that is how it's done. This is a first for me:) I loved it and we are planning good things for it at our church. Check it out at my blog www.heritage-familyfarms.blogspot.com Thank you again!

This is incredible! I'm using this calendar for my Sunday School Classroom! I teach a PreK-Kindergarten class and I know they will have so much fun with it! Even more fun than I had with my niece and son searching through the house to find all of the knick-knacks! HOPEFULLY, they still carry structures like this at Hobby Lobby, even though it has been a year since you posted this. If not, did anyone have any luck finding anything similar at a Michael's?

I just wanted to send you a big thank you! I just got done putting together our aadvent Calendar in just two days for my girl who's 28 months. She loved it so far! I will be sure to try your Easter Story as well when the time comes! :) Claudia

This is amazing! I'm doing this for my families advent calendar this year! Been wanting to get away from chocolates and lollies in the advent calendar to something more biblically based for a while now but haven't found the right thing for it! This is perfect!

Hello, what a wonderfull idea. I am now making it in dutch, using your outline. Is it oke when I blog about it and that people can copy my dutch notes? (with a reference to your original site and idea?)

Wow, very creative of you. I really liked your work. There are many ways to tell kids about the true meaning of christmas, your idea is one of them. Plus! including Christian Christmas Card Wording Ideas to cards is also good.

This is AWESOME! I'm teaching my 4th grade Faith Formation class to read the Bible & understanding how to find book, chapter & verse. I used your idea to make it into an actual calendar. Each day has a picture of the item you described, Then I attached a second page also with printed calendar with the verses in the box. So when they "open" the calendar they will see the corresponding verse & hopefully find & read the verse from their Bibles!

Great! I have completed mine with things I found around the house, although Mary will have to travel to Bethlehem on a Zebra which I thought was better than a unicorn! Off to the toy shop for a donkey :)

Hi, thanks for these wonderful ideas!!! I am using the bulk of it to make a sensory box for my younger children, we can pull it out a few moments each morning and read more of the story! I am trying to do less and take it easy since we've had a horribly rough year, I had surgery, and my energy is only rebuilding slowly. I was searching for something manageable and I love your ideas!!! God bless you! Thank you for sharing your idea!

The Star of David is nothing Catholics would use, for it is an occult symbol and does certainly not represent the lineage of David. It's no coincidence the antichrist talmudic kabbalistic Jews are using it all the time.

Thank you so much for taking the time to prepare and share this. I've found it really helpful as I've made something for my children this Advent. I hope you rediscover the wonder of the season this year.

Have already taught my twins little ones the true story of Christmas who are recently enrolled in one of Phoenix kindergarten. Glad to know that their teacher has been telling the same story and they are liking it.

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